Chris Sale has been on the disabled list since August 19th with left shoulder inflammation. He has been battling with this issue for most of the 2nd half of the season but has made it clear to the media that he is fine. In fact, Sale has even mentioned that if the games were more important, he would be pitching.
Well, the games are about to get a whole lot more important.
Boston’s Dominance
For the majority of the season, the Red Sox have been cruising atop the AL East despite New York’s impressive season. The team leads the majors in 9 offensive categories including runs, hits, doubles, total bases, runs batted in, batting average, on base percentage, slugging, and OPS. They are currently ranked 3rd in team pitching across the majors. As it stands to head into Tuesday’s matchup with Miami, the team sits 48 games above .500 with a 90-42 record.
The Recent Skid Has The Team Searching for Answers
Via WEEI
The Red Sox remain the only team in the league that has avoided a 4-game skid. Until last weekend, they were also the only team to avoid the broomsticks all season. After the worst three-day stretch of the year for the Sox, the team has seen their 9-game lead over the Yankees dwindle down to 6.5 with 30 left to play. Everything has gone Boston’s way all season until now. This team needs something or someone to wake them up now more than ever.
Chris Sale is that someone. The 29-year-old entered the season off the heels of arguably the best campaign of his career. He was a runner-up in the CY Young race last season, yet has somehow looked even sharper in 2018. Sale owns a 12-4 record with a 1.97 ERA in 23 starts this year. He has talked about pitching when the games matter. They matter now.
It’s time for this team to get out of cruise control and put the pedal to the metal, and Chris Sale is the man behind the wheel.